Pure Dumb Luck
by T0Pdeer
Summary: It is kind of funny how the universe works and how it has the power to make things work out for the better, even if it takes a while. Maybe it is the universe, or maybe it's just pure dumb luck, if luck even exists. This was something that Ferb Fletcher was about to ponder over in the next twenty minutes. Origin Ferb/Vanessa story. Oblivious Phineas is oblivious.
1. What Is It Short For?

**Author's Note:** Greetings, friends. This is the first fic I've published in probably 6 years and, of course, it's Phineas and Ferb, just like it was 7 years ago. I really wanted to write a fic again and finally decided to make a PnF one about Ferb and Vanessa, my favorite pairing. At the end of "Act Your Age", Ferb and Vanessa were a couple before went to college, and Dan Povenmire made a tweet a few years back that he pictured them meeting again at a coffee shop that Vanessa works at while Ferb is in college. I decided to combine those two things to make it so that they both fit in the timeline somewhat. I want this fic to be as close to canon as possible, so most everything I write in this is canon.

It would mean a bunch to me to see how this fic does. I haven't seriously written in a very long time, but I remember loving it, so I'm gonna try it again. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

It is kind of funny how the universe works and how it has the power to make things work out for the better, even if it takes a while. Maybe it is the universe, or maybe it's just pure dumb luck, if luck even exists. This was something that Ferb Fletcher was about to ponder over in the next twenty minutes.

It was a surprisingly cool evening in the beginning of May. Ferb had decided to ride his bike around town since it was so nice out. Phineas was out and about with Buford in an attempt to study for a final in a class they both shared. Well, more along the lines of Phineas trying to make sure that Buford is able to actually graduate in a couple weeks. Ferb wasn't very much help when it came to tutoring Buford; one may argue that Buford doesn't understand his teaching methods, or maybe Ferb isn't quite cut out for teaching. So, he set off on his bike down the street and into town.

He didn't really have a set plan for where he would go, not that he needed to always have a plan of action. Sometimes just being outside on a nice spring evening with no plans is good enough. This also gave him time to process what was going on lately. In just two weeks, he would be graduating high school with Phineas and all their friends. Ferb had already applied to several colleges way back in October and decided to go to Camford-on-Oxbury in England to go into movie directing. It was a little bit of a shock to family and friends that he wasn't going into something like engineering or building rockets for NASA, but they were supportive nonetheless. Ferb still loved to build things, but directing movies was just something that he was a bit more interested in pursuing. Those dramatic pieces of British cinema don't write themselves.

The wind was nice and crisp, ruffling Ferb's already scruffy green hair as he rode along. He suddenly remembered this one little coffee shop that just opened up a few weeks ago that he had been meaning to try. He got out his phone and looked up the address of the shop, pleasantly surprised that it was extremely close by. He quickly made a sharp turn at the next intersection and headed toward the address. Upon reaching the shop, there was a distinct aroma of coffee in the air. Ferb locked up his bike on a street lamp pole and headed inside.

The shop had a cute ambiance to it. It was very clean and had very interesting pieces of artwork on the walls, presumably made by locals that were donated to the shop. There were hanging Christmas-like lights along the walls and the lights hanging from the ceiling resembled teardrops. The glass itself around the lightbulbs resembled a mosaic pattern. Ferb mentally gave the place a good review for decor.

Ferb strode up to the front counter and pondered on what he was going to purchase. A young redheaded girl with rectangular glasses hurried to the cash register.

"Hello, may I take your order?" she asked cheerfully.

"I would like a small iced tea, please," Ferb said while reaching into his back pocket to retrieve his wallet. Instead of taking forever to scour the entire menu for a drink that he may or may not enjoy, he decided to play it safe and see how the tea is. If they mess up an iced tea, then it wouldn't be worth trying anything else.

"Alright, that'll be $2.49 and we'll have it ready for you as soon as possible!" the barista said. "Small iced tea!" she called out behind her as Ferb handed her the money. "Can I get a name for that?" she asked.

"F-E-R-B," he spelled out as clearly as he could. Sometimes it's easier just to spell it than say it when in the presence of people who didn't know him. He was the only one in the shop at the moment, which Ferb was slightly thankful for. Sometimes the overall atmosphere of a coffee shop can be ruined by pretentious hipsters pretending to write a screenplay on their MacBooks.

The redhead handed Ferb back his change and went off to go clean out a machine. As he was turning away to find a place to sit, he caught a glimpse of the barista making his drink. And so did she.

Vanessa looked up from making an iced tea to see who had ordered it. She could have just as easily read the name on the side of the cup, but her co-worker's handwriting was barely legible, so there was no point in trying to decipher it anymore. The amount of times the other baristas have mispronounced someone's name because of the redhead's handwriting was daunting. They even set up a jar in the break room to put a dollar in for every time they messed up reading someone's name.

When Vanessa looked up, her eyes immediately locked with Ferb Fletcher's, who was also looking her way. She hastily, yet carefully, finished up his drink and attempted to read the side of the cup to confirm it was him. The scribbled letters vaguely spelled out "Ferb," and that was good enough for her. She smiled as she went up to the front counter to hand him his drink. From the looks of it, he was just as surprised as she was to see her. When she approached him, she held the drink in one hand and pointed to his name on the cup.

"So. What _is_ this short for?"


	2. Catching Up

**Author's Note:** Apparently on Ferb's wiki page, it says that he wants to be a movie director, so that's how I fit that in the last chapter. Not really sure where that came from because there was no source, but I'm just gonna go with it. In response to the guest that reviewed, yes, your theory of why he's bad at tutoring is correct. And there will be more chapters to this!

* * *

Ferb was definitely surprised to say the least. He couldn't even recall the last time he had talked to Vanessa. He had seen her here and there a few years back, but not anytime recently. She was just as beautiful as ever, her soft, brown hair tied back into a ponytail and her lips nice and pink.

Ferb didn't even realize how long he had been staring, not saying a word. He didn't even catch the question, but he very clearly heard her heavenly voice.

"I, uh... I, um, what?" he stuttered. This was already going less than ideal.

She scoffed jokingly. "Your name. What is it short for? Y'know, what you meant to tell me a long time ago but never did?"

His eyes widened for a second. He would have never guessed that she would still remember that event, let alone the conversation. "Oh. Right. Here, let me see that," he said, taking the cup of iced tea and a nearby Sharpie on the counter. He wrote an "S" at the end of his name on the cup so that it spelled "Ferbs" and showed it to her. "That's all."

Vanessa snickered. "You call that short for _that_? That's just one letter! And here I've been wondering for the past few years if it was short for some really long, elaborate monstrosity of a name."

Ferb shrugged. "It is what it is."

"You know, I tried asking Candace years ago what it was short for and she had no clue!" Vanessa said. "I mean, she's your sister and everything, I figured she would know!"

"Hmmm. Guess it's never come up before," he said.

Vanessa smirked. "Well, I must be special then if I know and your sister doesn't."

"I guess you are," Ferb slightly blushed. It was pretty true, though. She was definitely something special.

She grinned. "Hey, I'm off the clock in a little bit, wanna catch up a bit more?"

"Sure," he said quickly. Ferb was mentally scolding himself for having zero chill. Who knows what she could possibly be up to these days, and he needed to slow down a bit. He had no idea why he was so nervous. They had talked plenty of times in the past, but there was something about her now that was even more captivating now than when he was not even a teenager yet.

"Great, care to hang out for fifteen more minutes?" she asked.

"Not a problem," he said, much more calmly this time. He took his iced tea and strode over to a table with two seats to it. He took out his phone as he sat down, but only to make it seem like he was doing something. He opened and closed several apps, hoping to distract himself for fifteen more minutes. It was a futile attempt, though, for his mind could not calm down or focus on anything else.

* * *

Vanessa went to the break room to gather her belongings for when she would clock out. The redheaded barista was also in the break room, sitting at one of the round tables in the room.

"So, you know that guy?" she asked.

"Yeah. I knew him way back when I was sixteen. Been awhile since I've seen him," Vanessa said.

"He's pretty good-looking," the redhead giggled. "Does he have a girlfriend?"

Vanessa scoffed. "No idea." But that was something she would probably found out soon enough. She took off her apron and hung it on one of the hooks in the room, then took out her hair tie and grabbed her purse. "Anyway, I'm gonna go catch up with him in the lobby. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Have fuuuun," the other girl said in a sing-song voice. Vanessa rolled her eyes and made her way out of the break room.

She walked around the other side of the counter and went to the table that Ferb was at. She sat down in the empty chair and he looked up from his phone, thankful to not have to pretend to be busy anymore. "So," she said, "what's been happening lately?"

Ferb didn't know what was happening lately all of a sudden. What even happened five minutes ago? "Not much," he said. Truly profound.

"Well, I guess I should ask what's been happening the past few years? I haven't seen you in quite some time." she said.

"I've been here and there," he said. "I'm about to graduate in a couple weeks."

She raised her eyebrows. "Wow, really? From college, or..-"

"High school," he said. _Great, she's probably all done with college and starting a whole new life and everything_ , he thought. That dreaded age gap managed to ruin any chance of things happening way back when, and it just might do the same thing now.

"Oh, that's right, you're, like, six years younger than me, right?" she asked. "You've grown up a lot since the last time I saw you, I completely forgot."

"So did you," he said without thinking. He panicked for a split second, thinking she would take it the wrong way or something. "Anyway, did you go to university yourself?"

Vanessa nodded. "Graduated two years ago. I took a year off when I turned eighteen because I wasn't totally sure what I was doing yet. I ended up studying criminal justice for two years at a community college and transferred to Tri-State State to finish up."

"Interesting," said Ferb, taking another sip of his iced tea.

"Now I'm just trying to find a steady job with it. Having a degree helps, but I didn't think finding a job in the field that I actually enjoy would be this difficult," she sighed. "I got my own place back here in Danville when I graduated, but I can't really say I imagined myself still being here at the age of twenty-four. Well, close to twenty-four, anyway."

All Ferb could do was just stare and nod. _Twenty-four_ , he thought. He didn't really know why, but hearing her age out loud made him the tiniest bit disappointed.

"But what about you? Surely someone with your brains got into some really prestigious school, right?" she asked. "What do you wanna do?"

"I'm actually going to a university in England," he said. "Movie directing."

"That's pretty cool," she said. "What's the name of the school?"

"Camford-on-Oxbury," he said.

She gave a low whistle. "What a name. Sounds like something out of a fantasy novel. Say hello to Harry, Ron, and Hermione for me," she laughed.

"There's only _some_ wizardry," he blushed. She laughed some more, the cute dimples in her face becoming more noticeable. Her laugh was as much contagious as it was pleasant to listen to, causing Ferb to smile, too.

"You're pretty funny, Ferbs. Got anyone special in your life that you're this funny to?" Vanessa chalked this up as one of the lamest attempts at low-key asking someone if they had a significant other ever, but she had to ask.

Ferb shook his head. "Can't say that I do. And you?"

Vanessa twirled a strand of her hair with her fingers. "Nope," she sighed. "Been single for three solid years." Ferb noted that she didn't seem to remorseful about it. To any stranger that met her, he assumed that she seemed like a strong, independent woman who didn't need no man. And she very well could be.

"Same here, but for eighteen solid years," he said jokingly. She got a good chuckle out of that.

"That's kind of surprising," she said. "You seem like the type that would have girls fawning over you left and right, maybe a few boys here and there."

Ferb laughed a little to himself. "And somehow I was interested in zero of them," he said.

"That's fair, that's fair," she said. "You don't seem like the kind of person to just date for fun, anyway. But I bet someone would be pretty lucky to have you." _Is this flirting?_ she wondered to herself. She didn't want to give him the wrong impression, but she couldn't help but think that she was maybe a little bit interested. At least in getting to know him better.

Ferb was wondering the same thing about the flirting. He started to blush even more. "I could say the same thing to a lady as gorgeous as you." _Too far?_

She smiled warmly. "Very smooth, Ferbs, very smooth. Hey, it's getting late, why don't we do this again sometime? I'm free on Thursday all day."

Ferb nodded. "6:00 here, maybe?"

"Sounds good to me," she said as she went digging through her purse. She managed to find a pen and took one of his hands. "And here's my number in case something comes up." She wrote down the digits on the palm of his hand as best as she could. "Text me later so I can get yours," she said as she got up to leave.

She waltzed over to the door. "See you Thursday, Ferbs," she called, and out the door she went. Ferb was still staring at the door a few seconds after she left, switching back and forth from looking at the door and looking at his palm with her number on it. When he finally snapped out of his daze, he hastily got out his phone and promptly entered the number into his contacts. He then stood up from his chair and headed out the door as well, making his way over to where he locked his bike. So many mixed feelings were going through his head at this time, like how secretly happy he actually was to see her again, and single, too, as if the universe was trying to say something. Maybe. Or not. The universe is weird like that.

Now began the nerve wracking process of trying to figure out when would be an appropriate time to text her.


	3. Back At Home

**Author's Note:** New chapter! The nice feedback really gives me confidence to continue, even though I think my writing is boring, personally, haha. But I'm also doing this just for fun anyway. And I'm not really gonna update everyday or anything because I work for a living and I need to be inspired to write, but I'm gonna try not to take breaks for months at a time. Again, the feedback really means a lot to me, and I thank you all! Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Vanessa pulled into her parking space at her apartment complex next to the cherry red convertible that belonged to her roommate and long-time best friend, Lacie. She shut the engine off and got out of her bright yellow car, a car that she honestly would have never pictured owning back when she was sixteen. Her tastes in colors had drastically changed since her days of wearing all black everyday, even in the summer. This car was her baby, though. It was stylish, cute, and all hers.

She walked over to her front door, struggling to get her keys out of her purse. It had been such a long day at work and all she wanted to do was get inside and lay down on the couch forever. The only good part of the day was seeing Ferb again. _I wonder when I'll hear from him_ , she thought as she finally unlocked the door, threw her keys and purse down inside, and flopped down on the couch with a deep sigh.

As if on cue, the same roommate and long-time best friend emerged from her room, yawning.

"I thought you got off at eight; now it's almost ten. The heck were you doing for almost two hours?" Lacie asked.

Vanessa turned her head towards Lacie so that her words wouldn't be muffled from the couch cushions. "I was just catching up with an old friend after work."

Lacie nodded. "Uh huh. What old friend?"

"Do you remember Phineas and Ferb? Those kids that always made crazy stuff during the summer?"

"Yeah…?"

"Ferb came in around the end of my shift. I haven't seen him in forever, so we decided to catch up."

"Interesting, interesting," said Lacie. "Were you two close or something back then? Isn't he, like, five years younger than you?"

"Six, I think," said Vanessa as she began to sit up. "We just hung out a few times, usually with him saving my life or something during those times."

Lacie scoffed. "Saved your life?"

"You just had to be there," Vanessa said. "But yeah, we're gonna hang out again soon. He's a pretty cool guy."

"Do you mean he actually talks now?" Lacie smirked.

Vanessa huffed. "He did back then, too, just not very often. But yes, he talks more now, a little bit."

"Mhm… You know I have to ask- is this gonna go anywhere?" Lacie smiled.

"Ha! I doubt it. We're just-"

"Don't you dare say 'just friends', Vanessa, we both know that's crap," said Lacie, pointing an accusing finger at Vanessa. "Just keep me in the loop, 'kay? I'm going to bed. G'night."

"Night," Vanessa sighed. _There's nothing wrong with old friends going on a friendly friend date to catch up as friends,_ she thought. Although she did have to admit that Ferb was quite the looker now that he finally hit puberty and whatnot. But thinking about that was just weird to her. She still thought of him as the ten year old kid that she would sometimes run into at the strangest times throughout the summer.

Speak of the devil, her phone vibrated in her back pocket and she not-so-secretly hoped it would be from a number she didn't recognize, meaning it would most likely be from him.

" _Hello, friend."_

Vanessa smiled. Yep, that's probably him. She quickly sent a text back-

" _Hey! Now I have your number, too."_

The next thing she received from him was a thumbs up emoji. She decided just to leave the conversation at that. After all, they had a friend-date planned for Thursday.

* * *

Ferb turned down onto Maple Drive on his bike and pulled into their family's garage. He put his bike up on its kickstand and laid his helmet on one of the handlebars. The only thing he could think about on the way home was the giant coincidence that he just so happened to want to take a bike ride to a new coffee shop that just so happened to have Vanessa Doofenshmirtz as an employee. What luck.

He noticed that both his parents' car and the car that he and Phineas shared were both home. So that meant Phineas is back from Buford's. The family was probably not having a "proper" dinner tonight, so he figured he didn't miss much. He wasn't really that hungry anyway. His stomach was still fluttering and he was pretty sure that if he tried to eat anything right now, it would just come back up in a very unflattering manner.

Ferb opened the door from the garage to inside the house and made his way to the staircase. He secretly hoped that if he was quiet and quick enough that no one would question where he had been for the past two hours. Unfortunately, Phineas has some sort of built-in Ferb radar and almost bumped into him on the staircase. In all fairness, Ferb should have seen it coming with his built-in Phineas radar.

"Ferb! You're home! Where've you been?" Phineas asked intently.

"Out," Ferb said. Just keeping it short and sweet. He started back up the stairs again, Phineas not far behind him.

"Where did you go while you were out? I just got back a few minutes ago. I think I had a breakthrough with Buford- there may be hope for him yet! But where were you?" The thing with Phineas is that sometimes he could get ahead of himself and be prone to rambling.

"I went down to that new coffee shop in town," said Ferb, opening the door to their room. He flipped on the light switch as he went by it and went straight to his side of the room. Phineas followed suit.

"Oh, that's cool! You were there an awfully long time, was it very busy?" Phineas asked. Honestly, Ferb was in no mood to explain things. Not that he was in a bad mood or anything, but Phineas was an oblivious soul and would probably not understand why seeing Vanessa Doofenshmirtz again was such a big deal to Ferb. And from the way his stomach was still fluttering, it really was a pretty big deal.

"Little bit," Ferb said shortly. He figured it would be best to let Phineas think what he thinks and just go along with it to save some energy.

"Good for them!" Phineas said. Then he let out a huge yawn and stretched. "I think I'm gonna go shower and then hit the hay. I'll be right back." On that note, he gathered a few clothes and left the room.

Ferb gave him a thumbs up as he left, then took out his phone. He looked back at his palm and realized he should probably wash off Vanessa's number before Phineas saw it. Or worse, he could accidentally sleep on it and then have her phone number all over his face. That would make for a fun conversation, but now was not the best time. He went back downstairs and washed it off in the sink in the kitchen. After getting back to his room, he took out his phone again and pondered a difficult choice. To text now or to wait?

 _She'll be expecting it anyway,_ he thought. He just didn't understand. This should not have been this big of a deal. They were just exchanging numbers and catching up some more on Thursday. No biggie. But yes biggie.

His thumb hovered over the text bubble next to her number for a good five minutes. A couple times he had accidentally clicked on it and quickly backed out, even though he knew just opening up an empty conversation with her wouldn't do anything. _You're being ridiculous, just do it,_ his inner monologue scolded. He opened up the empty conversation again and this time actually wrote something- " _Hello, friend."_ He didn't bother putting his name, as he figured she would assume it was him. Sure enough, less than a minute later, he got a text back from her. He just sent an emoji back, assuming that would be the end of the conversation for now. Without even realizing it, he was smiling at her text. _Now she has my number_.

At that moment, Phineas barged back into the room. "Hey, whatcha smiling at your phone for?" he asked. Phineas was also way too observant of Ferb, but then again, Ferb was also way too observant of Phineas. It worked both ways.

Ferb panicked for a split second. "Cat video."

Phineas let out a quiet "aww" and went over to his bed. "Well, I'm going to sleep. Do you mind if I turn this light out?"

Ferb gave him another thumbs up. Phineas picked up a remote control from his nightstand and turned off the overhead light. Sometimes the simplest inventions they made promoted such laziness.

Ferb decided that staring at Vanessa's one text for over ten minutes was starting to get a little excessive, so he locked his phone and set it on his nightstand. He rolled over onto his side and began to attempt to go to sleep, but his mind was still racing.

What was up? Why did she have such an effect on him? It was the same feeling that he used to get when he was much younger, maybe even stronger now. He was so sure that he would have gotten over it by now, gotten over _her._ It was just a childhood crush at the time, but for some reason, the thought of her stuck with Ferb for the next seven, almost eight, years. He never dated anyone else; he came close many times, but he never really liked anyone else the way that he liked her all those years ago. And if that tremendous feeling wasn't there, then what was the point? Phineas never understood it, either. He didn't understand why his brother would refuse dates left and right. Ferb never really thought about it until right then and there. It was because he still, no matter how much he denied it, was still head over heels for Vanessa Doofenshmirtz. It only took seven to eight years for him to realize this, too.

He hated this.


	4. Dinner Date

**Author's Note:** Hello again! Thanks again for all the feedback, everyone. Sorry this is so late, I've been working non stop this week. May be a while on the next chapter too because I'm going out of state for a few days soon. To answer the guest's question, YES, Doof will make an appearance! It may not be for another few chapters, but he will be in the story! A few years ago, I did see a small part of The Chronicles of Meap commentary, which I will use Doof's opinion of Ferb in this story. Does anyone know where to get that commentary bonus disc? Because it didn't come with my Very Perry Christmas DVD and I'm sad. So it'd be awesome if someone can direct me where to get it! Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

Thursday came along and Ferb could not relax the whole day. He was horribly distracted in all of his classes most of the day, not that there was anything super important going on before finals week. He was in his last class of the day, band, with Phineas and the others. There was absolutely nothing to do since their final was the last band concert of the year, but they still had to be there. He kept looking at his watch, disappointed each time when realizing only a minute or two had passed.

Phineas, Ferb, and their friends always sat in a circle in a corner everyday. Phineas noticed Ferb had been distracted-looking all day and kept frequently looking at his watch. It was starting to concern Phineas, so he casually slipped out of the heated conversation Baljeet and Isabella were having and leaned in closer to Ferb. "Hey, what's up?"

Ferb was so deep in thought that he almost didn't notice Phineas talking directly to him. He shrugged. "Nothing."

Phineas narrowed his eyes. "You've been off all day and always staring at your watch. Are you just that ready to leave?"

"Guess so," Ferb lied. It was a bad attempt, but the more he could stall, the more he could think of what exactly he was going to tell Phineas when he inevitably figured what was up. Phineas was oblivious, but not entirely oblivious to Ferb's actions.

"That's a lie, you liar, why are you lying to me?" Phineas fake-pouted. "Tell me what's up!"

Ferb groaned. There was no use in lying anymore, so he should just come right out with it. Phineas would be oblivious enough to not think much of the whole situation, probably. "I'm going out tonight to dinner with an old friend."

"Oh, wow, really?" Phineas exclaimed. "That's cool! Who is it?"

"Vanessa Doofenshmirtz," Ferb said very quietly.

"Aw, that's nice, I haven't seen her in forever! Well, tell her I said hi!" And with that, Phineas went back to listening to Isabella and Baljeet, who were getting pretty aggressive with their conversation.

Ferb thanked whatever god was out there that Phineas left the conversation at that.

* * *

Vanessa brushed her long, brown hair in the mirror right after blow-drying it. She didn't really know why she was getting ready so early, it was only 2:00 in the afternoon. Since it was her day off, she slept in until noon, got up, took a shower, and now was debating on what to wear. And that's when she realized she had no idea what to wear.

 _Are we doing casual or formal? Or semi-formal?_ she wondered. She shrugged and thought it would be best to just text him and ask.

" _Hey, what are we wearing tonight?"_

Almost instantly, she got a text back.

" _Clothing, I would hope."_

She rolled her eyes and groaned, but smiled at his comeback.

" _Very funny. Not, Casual or formal or in between?"_

" _In between sounds fine."_

" _K- see you tonight. Xoxo"_

" _Until then."_

Now that she had an idea of how to dress, she went over to her closet and opened the doors. Not everything in her wardrobe was black anymore, so this would still be a challenging decision. Semi-formal is like church clothes… what do people typically wear to church...

Eventually, she picked out a black, flowy skirt and a burgundy blouse. The shoes she picked out were just black flats- no heels for her that night. She also decided to go ahead and wear some jewelry, like a pearl necklace and hoop earrings. She kept her makeup fairly subtle, but wore a red lipstick to match her blouse. Makeup was something that she actually enjoyed doing. It was like an art, but for your face. In another life she thought that she could maybe be a makeup artist for movies. Just a thought.

Her phone buzzed on her vanity. She quickly went over to see who was texting her. It was another text from Ferb.

" _Change of plans. Do you enjoy Ukrainian food?"_

At the mention of Ukrainian food, Vanessa typed her reply so fast, it was probably already sent before she actually hit the send button.

" _Yes. Yes I do."_

" _Perfect. See you then."_

He didn't even have to say where to go, there was only one restaurant in Danville that served Ukrainian food. Vanessa was even more excited now with the promise of foreign cuisine. But now she had four more hours to kill.

* * *

6:00 rolled around and the two met outside the Ukrainian restaurant. Ferb was wearing black slacks, a purple vest with a white undershirt, and a black bowtie. He even brought a single rose to give to Vanessa when she appeared.

"Aww, how sweet," she said as she took the rose. "And you look very dashing tonight."

Ferb tried his hardest not to blush too much. "And you look very ravishing, yourself."

Vanessa smiled. "You always were quite the gentleman. Glad to see that hasn't changed."

"You know, I even meant to give you that rose years ago, as well," he said. That was the main reason he brought her a rose tonight, since he couldn't do it all those years ago in Paris. He wasn't really sure why he was telling her this, though. It was in the past, after all.

"Really?" she asked. "When?"

"Back in Paris," he admitted.

"Ohhh, right! Sorry for taking off in a hurry, my dad suddenly showed up, so I went with him." _It's really sweet that he tried to give me a rose back then…_

"That's alright. Now I'm finally able to give it to you."

She smiled as she looked at the rose. "Thank you, Ferb. Shall we go inside?"

Ferb nodded. "We shall." He motioned for her to go inside as he held open the door.

The two were directed to their table and given two menus. The waiter took their drink orders and left them to decide what they wanted to eat.

"Order whatever you like," Ferb said.

"Oh, no, that's okay, I can pay for myself if you want," Vanessa said, clearly flustered.

"Please, I insist," Ferb said, not willing to take no for an answer.

"Well, thank you again," said Vanessa. Now she was having a hard time deciding if she should get what she really wanted, or try and go cheap.

"Don't be afraid to order what you really want," Ferb said behind his menu.

Vanessa stammered for a second. _Did he just read my mind or something?_ "I-I.."

"I can tell you want to try and go cheap, but you really don't need to," Ferb said. "Just get whatever you want the most."

And with that, Vanessa got exactly what she wanted with no further questions asked. After they told the waiter what they wanted, they got down to catching up some more.

"Phineas says hello, by the way," Ferb said.

"Oh, nice, tell him I said hello, too," said Vanessa. "Dang, I haven't seen him in forever either. Candace got married, right?"

"Engaged. She'll most likely be getting married next year."

"That makes sense. I'm happy for her. She and Jeremy are good for each other."

"He definitely knows how to deal with her neurotic tendencies," Ferb said after taking a sip of his drink. "But those neurotic tendencies made her a star in law school."

"That does not surprise me at all that she went into law," Vanessa laughed. "What about Phineas? Are he and Isabella together yet?"

"No," Ferb sighed. "He's so dense sometimes, I swear. As if Isabella hasn't been trying her hardest to give him the hint, I've been trying, too."

Vanessa chuckled. "That oblivious, huh? Poor guy. Can't even see what's right in front of him."

"Yeah. Poor thing.." Ferb trailed off as he studied Vanessa. The way her hair flowed down in front of her shoulder. The way her lips moved as she talked. Even the way she sipped her drink was worth noticing. Ferb had secretly become a master at staring since most of the time it looks like he's staring into nothing anyway. But he felt creepy doing that too much, so he decided to keep the conversation going. "You mentioned you've been single for a couple years. How did the last relationship end, if you don't mind talking about it?"

"Nah, it's fine," Vanessa said, placing her chin in her hand. "Well, it was with this guy named Monty. We dated for a long time, really. Like, for about 4 years or so. It ended pretty mutually. We sort of fell out of love, I guess." She started absent-mindedly twirling a strand of her hair. "It really sucked… When you're with someone that long, it hurts to end it, even if it's for the best…" she fell silent for a second. "But, life goes on."

Ferb nodded. Although he had never been in a relationship before, he can only imagine how hard it must be to break up with someone after spending years of your life with them.

"And then before that, I dated this guy named Johnny for almost a year. He was a real jerk, though, it wasn't a huge loss," she went on. "Those two were pretty much my only serious relationships."

 _Probably not your last,_ Ferb thought.

Shortly after, their food came out and they ate like kings. Once they were done, Vanessa leaned back in her chair, content and full.

"Thanks again for dinner, Ferb. It was so good," she said.

Ferb gave a thumbs up. "My pleasure."

"I really like hanging out with you, we should do this more often. I don't mean take me out to dinner and pay for it all the time, but just hang out and talk."

"I'd like that," Ferb said. _I'd really like that._

"What do you say we hang out at my place next," she suggested. "My roommate is gonna be out of town in the next couple days, so we don't have to worry about bugging her."

Ferb could have absolutely taken that the wrong way, but he tried really hard not to. "I'm free this weekend."

"I get off at two on Saturday, wanna come over around that time? You can meet me at work and I'll drive us there."

"Sounds good."

"Then it's another date!" she said cheerfully. "Oh, and let me leave the tip. I want to feel like I actually contributed to this."

Ferb chucked softly. "Fine by me."

After paying their bill, the two went back outside and walked over to Vanessa's car. The sun had gone down about a half hour ago and the street lights had come on.

"Hey, do you want me to give you a ride home since it's dark out?" Vanessa asked.

Ferb shook his head. "I rode my bike here."

"Well, lucky for you I have a bike hitch on the back of my car, so you should still let me take you home," she insisted.

Ferb didn't see much use in arguing, so he obliged. It wasn't like he was complaining, anyway, being driven to his house by the woman of his dreams for years. Nope, no complaining there. So he hitched the bike onto the back of her car and made his way to the passenger side.

"I just don't feel comfortable with people going home alone at night," Vanessa said. "I think I remember where your house is. Maple Drive, right?"

Ferb nodded. Vanessa's car was very clean on the inside, as opposed to other cars of his friends that he's been in. Cough Buford cough.

The drive was pretty silent, but the two of them kept sneaking glances at each other without the other noticing. _He really is pretty handsome,_ Vanessa thought. _It's a shame he's a bit younger._

Vanessa pulled into the Flynn-Fletchers' driveway. "So I'll see you Saturday!" she said as Ferb stepped out of the car.

"It's a date," he said before shutting the door and unhitching his bike. She pulled out of the driveway and waved goodbye.

 _A date… Another date._


	5. Aftermath

**Author's Note:** Hello, friends. Thanks again for the nice reviews, they're very appreciated! To the guest who tried helping me find the bonus disc, thank you for your efforts! I looked everywhere and cannot find it and did see that it was a Toy R Us exclusive and that makes me sad. Maybe someday I'll go into the Disney vault and take it. Wishful thinking. Anyway, I have a question to ask you people- what direction should I go with this story? Part of me wants to make it as close to being real to the show as possible, and the other part wants to make it more raw. Like with some adult themes and overall a very realistic take on it that would not happen in the show. Everyone would be the same, but some things would happen that the show wouldn't cover. So yeah, just let me know what you think about that, and enjoy!

* * *

Ferb was naturally a master at being as quiet as a mouse in more ways than one, so sneaking back into the house without making much noise was a piece of cake. Sadly, it was Phineas he had to always be on the lookout for. Curse his natural ability to know Ferb's every move. He quietly ascended the stairs and made his way into their bedroom. From the looks of it, Phineas was already in bed asleep, so Ferb went over to his side of the room to turn on a lamp. Phineas was briefly startled awake by this.

"Hey, Ferb. You're back," Phineas said with a big yawn and a stretch. "How'd it go?"

"Great," said Ferb as he was changing into pajamas. "Sorry for waking you."

"Nah, it's fine, I just went to bed early because I have to be up at, like, six for a final tomorrow," Phineas said, rubbing his eyes. "I didn't even think I would be able to actually go to sleep this early, but here I am. I honestly just can't wait to be done."

Ferb nodded in agreement. School sucked. Enough said. It wasn't hard, it was just incredibly boring and everyone was petty and dramatic, except their close circle of friends, and both brothers were just eager to be done with high school. College was a different story. The people are better and are, most of the time, there to actually learn and do something they enjoy doing. So, naturally, it was something big to look forward to.

"Well, I'm glad you had fun," Phineas said sincerely. "I'm going back to sleep- goodnight." He then pulled his blanket back over him and rolled over on his side.

"Night," said Ferb, finally getting comfortable in his own bed. Tonight was the first "date" that he had with Vanessa, and they already had another one planned for Saturday! He really could not believe all that was happening right now. He didn't want to get too ahead of himself, though. They were still just friends, after all. Friends going on friendly-friend dates.

But it would be a lie if Ferb said he didn't want more. _Maybe we'll grow closer. Maybe we'll become best friends. Maybe we'll become more than best friends. Or maybe we'll just stay friends because that's all she wants. Maybe I'm alone in my feelings. Maybe I will stop feeling this way eventually. Or maybe I will just die sad and alone._ Intrusive thoughts were all too common for Ferb. His mind just couldn't take a break for even one second, or just stay on positive thoughts. He sighed and put his pillow over his face. _Maybe if I smother myself, I'll stop thinking about this._ No, that wouldn't be too good.

* * *

Vanessa strode into her apartment and set her purse on the floor. _Now time to get out of these clothes,_ she thought. Dressing up for special occasions was fun, but it was also very nice to come home and change into comfortable clothing at the end of the day. She went into her bedroom and started undressing.

Lacie passed by her doorway and knocked on the wall. "Hello, hello. How'd it go?"

Vanessa turned to look at her roommate. "It was pretty good. We went out for Ukrainian food," she said, still changing her clothes.

"Uh, huh, very nice, very nice," Lacie nodded. "Anything interesting happen?"

Vanessa scoffed. "I don't know what you mean by 'interesting', but we're going out again on Saturday." She walked over to her vanity and began taking off her makeup. "He's really nice; he even paid for my meal."

"Aw, what a gentleman," Lacie said smiling. "You should keep him."

"As what, a sugar daddy?" Vanessa laughed. "He's, like, eighteen or something."

"Yeah, yeah, but if you go on anymore dates after this one, I'm gonna start assuming _something_ is up," Lacie said, pointing two fingers to her eyes, then to Vanessa's. "But in all seriousness, I think it would be nice for you to get back on the scene again. It's been an awfully long time since That Guy."

Vanessa groaned. "Don't remind me. I will go at my own pace, thank you very much. I'm not rushing into anything again."

Lacie smiled and patted her on the head. "Smart girl." She then went down the hallway and into her room. "Goodnight!" she called.

"Goodnight," Vanessa called back. She finished up removing the rest of her makeup and began changing into pajamas. She then heard her phone buzz on her nightstand. She hurried over to it and unlocked it to see who texted her.

" _Thank you very much for taking me home."_

"Aww," Vanessa smiled to herself. " _No problem! Anything for a friend."_

 _Friends,_ she thought. Yeah, they were friends. Getting to be pretty good friends at that. Ferb was just so nice and such a great listener, so much so that Vanessa felt like she could pour her life story and deepest secrets unto him and never think twice about if it was too personal or not. He was just that rare kind of guy that she felt that she could legitimately trust, and she didn't even know him that well yet. That was definitely a trait that Vanessa could get behind. She crawled into bed and began pondering these thoughts more heavily. Maybe the universe was trying to tell her something, like that she and Ferb were supposed to meet again at this time, or that this was the moment in time that they needed to be there for each other, or something along those lines. Vanessa rolled over and exhaled through her nose. Maybe because she was reading too much into it. Or was she not reading into it enough? Now everything was just getting even more confusing.

Meanwhile, a few miles away, Ferb would not be getting much sleep that night while trying to decipher the true meaning of what she meant by " _a friend."_


	6. Saturday

**Author's Note:** So that last chapter was a bit short, but I really didn't have any way of ending it different. I'm getting too ahead of myself in wanting to get further into the story, but I need to write what's happening currently in the story first! Struggles. I really want to make the chapters from now on longer since the basis of the story is covered, now I can get into it more. To the guest, yes, I would like to be reminded of Doof's opinion of Ferb from the commentary- I vaguely remember it. I'm going to hold off on some of my ideas that I asked about in the last chapter for now until I get more feedback. Enjoy!

* * *

Until Saturday came along, Ferb wasn't feeling as nervous as he had been in anticipation to seeing Vanessa again. Now he was feeling on top of the world and more elated than ever. Aside from the pesky intrusive thoughts and overthinking, he knew deep down that everything was going wonderfully between them and he couldn't be happier. Well, he could, but for the time being, he was pretty dang happy. Phineas was even beginning to notice a little skip in his step lately. On Saturday morning, Ferb got up extra early to start the day, accidentally waking Phineas in the process, who just suffered another late night out with Buford.

"Dang, you're up early," Phineas yawned. "I thought you weren't heading over to Vanessa's until later."

"Correct," Ferb said. "But I just wanted to get a head start today. Sorry for waking you."

"No, it's fine, I was just up really late last night," Phineas said, throwing his blankets off of him and sitting up. "Buford and I decided to take a break from studying and ending up playing retro video games till two in the morning… It was fun, but I'm dead."

"Then go back to sleep," Ferb said as he combed his hair a bit.

"Don't have to tell me twice. Night!" And in that moment, a blanket covered lump replaced where Phineas just was, followed closely by some soft snoring. Ferb rolled his eyes and grabbed his backpack before leaving their room.

Just outside the door, Ferb almost smacked right into his older sister, Candace, who was visiting for the weekend and just so happened to be waiting right outside.

"You there, where are you going?" she pointed an accusing finger at him. Candace was a pretty tall woman, but Ferb just barely surpassed her height recently, and was likely to get even taller in the future. This low key frustrated Candace, but at least Phineas was still shorter than her.

"Out," Ferb said shortly, trying to get past Candace, but she prevented him from doing so. "You do realize I can literally move you right now if I wanted, right?"

"Yeah, but you won't," Candace snapped. "I've gotten word that you've been going out and about recently, is this true?"

"Maybe," Ferb smirked. Playing around with Candace's nerves was almost like a game to him, even when they were younger. Often times he would find it annoying how neurotic she was, even though he loved her, but it was also just amusing to watch her flail about.

"Yes or no, buddy, I want to know details, like who, when, where, why, and how," Candace huffed.

"Okay," Ferb began to count on his fingers, "Who- Vanessa Doofenshmirtz. When- this evening. Where- at her place. Why- because. How- no idea."

Candace narrowed her eyes. "I'm not satisfied with your 'why' answer."

Ferb shrugged and attempted to get past her again. It failed.

"Little brother, you could be getting into some hot water with her," Candace warned. "She's one of my good friends, I know what she's been through. On top of that, I know fairly well how her dad is." She shuddered. "I mean, I don't know how it's been for the two of you lately, but I'm just giving you a heads up since you're the new one to all this. Phineas wouldn't know how to date even if a brick with instructions written on them hit him in the face." They both got a good laugh out of that. Candace smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I don't want to tell you what to do because it's your life and all, but don't rush into anything, okay?"

Ferb nodded. "I'll be fine." _I hope._

"You're a genius, I'm sure you'll be fine," Candace said. "Unless being around her makes you an idiot."

 _You wouldn't be too far off on that statement,_ Ferb thought with a twinge of embarrassment.

"Anyway, if you ever have any problems, just call me. Or text, whichever is best for you," Candace said, finally stepping aside to let him pass. "Thanks," he said as he walked by. Candace watched him go down the stairs and sighed. Jeremy emerged from Candace's old room, having just woken up. "Hey, good morning," he said as he came up behind her and gave his fiancée a kiss. "Did you just talk to him?"

"Yeah," Candace sighed. "I hope he'll be okay. I'd hate to see his heart get broken. But now that I think about it, it would be just like Ferb to go for someone older."

"Yeah, I see what you mean," said Jeremy. "I'm sure he'll be all right."

Candace was still staring at the now empty staircase. "All I know is I'll support him even if no one else does."

* * *

Vanessa watched on her small front porch as Lacie packed her last suitcase into her trunk. "So you're gonna be back Monday night?" she asked.

"Why, are you planning how to hide evidence before I get back?" Lacie teased. "But yeah, sometime Monday night. I don't expect this gig to last too long."

"The gig isn't even the long part, it's how much time you're gonna spend with your boy toy," Vanessa sneered. Lacie was on her way to her not-boyfriend's show a couple cities over as a groupie, basically. Vanessa always got onto Lacie for not being officially together with this guy, even though she showed up to every gig and then some.

"Hey, now, I don't even wanna hear it," Lacie retorted, holding a hand up to Vanessa's face. "You are most likely doing the same thing this weekend and you're not really with him either, so hush! And don't you have to be at work soon?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll get there eventually," Vanessa groaned. "Can't I just see my friend off?"

Lacie fake-gasped and smiled, "Well, how nice of you!" She gave her roommate a giant hug. "See you Monday. Have fuuuun!" she sang and proceeded to get into her car and start the engine.

"You, too, Lace!" Vanessa waved as she started to pull out of the parking spot. She then got into her own car, already in her work uniform, and started driving to work. On the way there, she began thinking about how the approaching evening was going to go. She figured she would order pizza for dinner and rent a new movie that just came out to DVD. _I hope he likes horror movies,_ she thought. She was planning on renting some scary movie about a family that lives in a haunted house and they call in some paranormal detectives to come figure out how to fix it. Vanessa lived for horror movies and would admit to watching even the crappiest of all suspenseful cinema that probably had a lower budget than a high school drama club. She couldn't help loving the genre anyway.

As she pulled into her usual parking spot outside the coffee shop, she got out her phone and brought up her text conversation with her date tonight. " _Just got to work. See you at 2! Xoxo"_

The text she received after that was three thumbs-up emoticons. She grinned and put her phone back in her pocket, ready to go in and get the work day over with.

* * *

1:45 rolled around and Ferb hopped on his bike to go down to meet Vanessa. Before he was able to leave, however, Lawrence came out to the garage.

"Oh, you're already heading out?" Lawrence asked. "What time do you think you'll be home?"

"Not sure; I'll let you know," Ferb said, putting his kickstand up.

"Righty-o, you have fun," Lawrence waved and went back inside. Sometimes Ferb was very thankful of how laid-back his father was, albeit a bit clueless at times. At least that's something he and Phineas shared in common. Ferb then started off down the road.

"Bye, Jen, see you Monday," Vanessa called to her coworker as she walked out the door. She was halfway through writing out a text before she saw that the person she was about to text was already standing right in front of her.

"Oh, good, you're here!" she exclaimed, hugging him for a second. "Hop in my car and let's go!"

Ferb's face flushed red from her embrace, but he happily obliged and got in the passenger seat, having already hitched his bike to her car. Vanessa started up the car and headed down the road.

"It's not a very fancy apartment, but it's better than nothing," she explained. "Pretty affordable and there's no mushrooms growing in the bathroom, so it's pretty much perfect."

Ferb listened to every word she said, even if he didn't always say anything back. He was very thankful that Vanessa naturally understood that it was nothing personal, just the way he worked. And Vanessa really did understand it, and she was quite fine with it.

"You know, normally I would be a bit teed-off at people who don't contribute much to the conversation, but it's different with you," she began. "Like, I know that you're listening, and I don't feel like I'm just talking to myself. How do you do it?"

"It's a mystery, isn't it?" Ferb said in a low voice. "Sometimes being just the listener gives you more knowledge on people than they think."

Vanessa let out a "hmm" and nodded. "Interesting. Maybe I'll try just listening and not talking sometime."

"It's an experience, for sure," Ferb said. "Just don't expect me to be the one you listen to."

"Aw, why not? I think that would be very interesting, if it's true when you say that it gives you more knowledge on the person talking," Vanessa said. "It would be a fun role-reversal someday."

"Maybe one day," Ferb agreed, turning to look out the window. Nobody ever really made him do all the talking. Nine times out of ten Phineas would make arrangements to make sure Ferb _didn't_ have to do much talking. He wasn't quite sure what to think of someone wanting to only listen to him for a change.

"Aaaand we're here," Vanessa said as she parked her car. "Home sweet apartment." The two stepped out of the car and got out their respective bags. "I'm gonna order some pizza tonight for dinner, and I have a movie we can watch. Hope you like scary movies." She got out the movie and pointed at it with a semi-evil grin.

"Love them," Ferb smirked. "And somehow I pegged you as the type to enjoy horror flicks."

"I guess your knowledge of me is pretty accurate," Vanessa grinned. She fumbled for her house key and unlocked the door. "Come in," she said, motioning him to go inside and closed the door behind them. "Do you want something to drink? I've got Coke, some juice, hard lemonade-"

"You dare offer a minor alcohol?" Ferb said fake-surprised. "What a rebel you are."

"Oh, shoot, that's right, you're only eighteen, right?" she gasped. "Dang, I'm sorry."

"Seventeen, actually," he corrected. "I'll be turning eighteen at the end of May. And I've been drinking since I was sixteen, so…"

"What, really?" she asked. "How does that happen?"

"Not very often at all, mostly on my sixteenth birthday and occasionally here and there. Father bought some on my birthday since I would technically be of legal age over in England; Mum however was not so enthused…," he said. Vanessa laughed.

"That's pretty awesome, so I guess it's not so bad if I offer you some," she said while opening the fridge.

"Maybe at dinner," he said. "I'll just have some water."

"Coming right up," she said as she took out a can of Coke for herself. She reached for a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water. "Here you go. So, when do you want to start this movie? Or order the pizza?"

Ferb shrugged. "Whenever is fine with me. We could order it now and start the movie."

"Sounds good to me," she said. "I'm just gonna get a pepperoni pizza, if that's okay with you." He nodded.

Vanessa called in their order, caving in and getting breadsticks when the dude on the phone asked if they wanted any, and Ferb had put in the DVD. The two sat down on the couch and Vanessa hit play.

"Okay, I don't know if you've seen this movie or heard anything about it, but I literally live for this occult couple on here that investigate haunted places," she gushed. "I just love horror movies based on true stories."

Ferb thought it was so cute how she got so excited about certain things. Sure, he thought almost everything she did was cute, but this was a quirk that he really liked. She could go on and on about anything and he would listen intently on every word she had to say.

About twenty minutes into the movie, the doorbell rang twice. "That's the pizza, finally, I'm starving," Vanessa said as she got up to get her wallet and answer the door.

She set the pizza down on the coffee table and brought out two bottles of hard lemonade from the fridge. "Now the party can really get started," she scoffed at her own statement.

Ferb opened up both bottle caps and held his bottle up to hers. "Cheers."

"Cheers," she said and they both took a drink.


	7. Alcohol is the Best Medicine

**Author's Note:** Yeah, so, I changed my username since my last one was ridiculously old and I am a new man. Thanks again to Guest for filling me in on the commentary- I'm still so sad I can't get it. :( So it's been quite a bit since the last chapter, but I just started my sophomore year of college and it's been hectic, but here I am, giving you lovely people some more content. Enjoyyyy.

* * *

Ferb was not really one to drink when he knew he had to drive home later, but he figured one glass of wine wouldn't hurt, especially if he was going to be at Vanessa's for a few more hours.

And then one glass turned into two. Then three. Then three and a half.

By this point, the bottle they had opened up when the pizza arrived was on its last legs. Vanessa had a little bit more to drink than Ferb had, so she was feeling pretty good at that point. She was laying down on her back, her legs hanging over the arm of the couch, and a goofy grin on her face.

"I can't even begin to describe how much I like this movie," she said. The last horror movie they had on ended, so she put in another horror movie about a video tape that kills the people who watch it. "It's such a classic and legitimately creepy."

"One day, we should watch the original Japanese movie," Ferb said as he absentmindedly played with the ends of Vanessa's hair that were conveniently sprawled on his lap from where she was laying down. The two of them were a little too intoxicated to say anything about it.

"Oh, my gosh, yes we should!" Vanessa exclaimed. "I've never seen the Japanese version of this movie, but I would love to see it!"

"Next time, then," he suggested. Although he wasn't totally aware of his actions, Ferb mentally commented on how soft Vanessa's hair was, which he had already assumed was going to be extremely soft. Just twirling the very ends of it confirmed his theory. Her hair was also nice and shiny, and a perfect chestnut brown. Ferb could have kept running it through his fingers all day if he had the chance.

Suddenly, Vanessa sat upright and stood up to take the empty pizza box away off the coffee table. Ferb snapped out of his relaxed state and silently panicked over if she left so quickly because she wanted him to stop messing with her hair. _"Stupid, you can't do that!"_

But upon her return, her steps a bit wobbly and slow, she smiled when she saw him and flipped back down on her side of the couch. "This has been a really fun night, Ferb."

Ferb nodded in agreement. "Yes, it has." _"Ok, so she probably didn't even notice my creepiness. Thank god."_

"I've been waiting to crack open that bottle of wine forever, but never really had a reason to," she said as she picked up the now empty wine bottle and studied the label. "Did you like this stuff?" she asked, turning her attention to Ferb. "Was it too sweet or anything?"

Ferb shook his head. "Just fine for me. Though I'm a little surprised you're asking for an opinion from a minor."

Vanessa shrugged. "I did some pretty stupid stuff when I was younger than you are now... Me offering you a drink in my apartment with just us two is way better than the things I did." She paused for a second. "Not to say that I was a stupid teenager, I really wasn't, I just liked to experiment, and I was pretty safe about it. Well, most of the time anyway."

Ferb turned to look at her more. "I would never assume you were stupid." _"Can't really say the same about myself tonight though..."_

She giggled at his words. "Well, that's pretty sweet. I wasn't the smartest teenager ever, but I tried to be safe about all the things I did. No driving buzzed or anything like that."

The sound of a phone vibrating interrupted her. Vanessa quickly fished her phone out of her pocket and read the name of who was calling her. "It's my mom," she said as she stood up. "I'll be right back."

Ferb nodded in acknowledgement. He then looked down at his watch to check the time. It was coming up on six o'clock. He could still have a few more hours before he had to go back home. Plenty of time to get sobered up.

Vanessa returned fairly quickly from her call and sat back down on the couch with a sigh. "Mom was just telling me I needed to come see her soon. Apparently I've been going over to dad's place more than hers lately. And I don't even visit him all that often! It's not my fault he lives closer to me than she does!" She placed a hand on her face. "Just the everyday struggle of having divorced parents, though."

Ferb didn't know her parents were divorced, so this was a surprise to him. Vanessa quickly realized she was probably making the situation awkward for him and decided to change the subject.

"So, you know a lot about my life. Tell me about yours."

Ferb stared at her blankly. "What's there to tell? You've pretty much known me since I was ten."

"Yeah, but I didn't really know _you_ you," she insisted. "Like what's life like for you, how's your family, all that stuff. Of course, I already know Candace pretty well."

Ferb pondered for a minute over what to say. Honestly, the wine was probably what was making him easy to persuade, at least more so than usual. "Well," he began dramatically, "it all started...when I was born."

Vanessa playfully punched him in the shoulder. "You know, I was about to say 'Not that far back,' but then I thought, yeah, start from there."

"I was joking," Ferb said flatly.

"Yeah, but I'm not," she said. She adjusted her sitting position to completely facing him and holding one of the couch pillows in front of her. "Go on."

Ferb did his best to avoid her curious gaze. "Well, now I don't really know where to start."

"Oh, come on," she groaned. "Like, how did your parents meet or whatever? Mine went to community college together and then got married shortly after. The main reason they divorced is because they 'wanted different things' and 'didn't get along very well', at least that's what Mom says."

At least she made the question easier on him. He thought for a moment before speaking. "My parents met in a chatroom of all places about antiques. She lived here and my father and I lived in England. He flew over here a few times for work and they started dating. Then they kissed and fell in love at a Love Händel concert. Next thing I know, Father and I moved to America and then I suddenly had Candace and Phineas as siblings."

Vanessa nodded, clearly fascinated with the story. "Interesting, interesting… so, what about both of your biological parents? Or is that too personal?"

Ferb let out a deep sigh. "Honestly, with as much wine as we've had, almost nothing is too personal right now. My biological mother died when I was almost two and Father and I lived with my grandparents for a while. Phineas and Candace's father.. I'm not really sure about that, actually. I don't think he and Mum ever got married. But it doesn't matter now anyway."

Vanessa nodded in agreement. "You and Phineas are quite the team. You're like celebrities around here. Candace, too, but maybe not for the same reasons," she laughed. "I mean that in the most endearing way possible since she's my friend, but she's a bit neurotic."

Ferb scoffed, "That's an understatement. But she means well. She's not around much anymore since she's away at law school, so things have been pretty quiet at home."

"I can imagine," Vanessa said. "I don't have any siblings, but I can definitely tell the difference between a loud house and a quiet house. My dad doesn't really know how to be quiet." She picked up her almost empty wine glass and swished it around in the glass a bit. "I really like talking to you, Ferb. I know I've probably said this before, but it's really true. You're just so easy to talk to, with or without alcohol." She downed the rest of her wine in one swift motion.

Ferb looked down at his wine glass and swished it around before drinking the rest of it as well. "I would be lying if the alcohol didn't make all of this easier on me," he said with a hint of laughter.

Vanessa raised an eyebrow, "Wait, what? Is something wrong?"

" _Shit. Don't panic."_ Ferb tried to remain as calm and collected as he could. "I wouldn't be fully telling the truth if I said that I wasn't nervous as hell about coming here. And the wine may or may not have loosened me up a little.

Vanessa stared for a second and then raised her hand to her mouth when she erupted with laughter. "Nervous? About what?"

Ferb increasingly turned a nice shade of pink and ran a hand through his hair. "I've never really done this before. This whole… 'date' thing, I guess." " _WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!"_

Vanessa nodded slowly. "Date, huh…"

" _You have done it this time, you have SO done it this time!"_ he thought. His inner monologue was almost never nice. It was blunt and harsh. " _Saying this is a date implies that you are dating! You are not dating! No matter how much you want to be…"_

"Yeah, I guess you could call this a date," she smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not _that_ intimidating. At least I don't think-"

"What?" Ferb stopped listening to the inner monologue just in time to hear her say the word "date". "Are we counting this as a date?"

"I suppose so. We've already gone on a couple. I mean, if that's what you want?" Vanessa was feeling fairly confused herself. Is this a date? Is this _dating?_

"I am so confused…," Ferb stood up and started pacing. "I really need to know, _is_ this a date? And is this _dating?_ Is that what's happening here? Because if it is, then I'm…" he trailed off.

Vanessa also stood up. "You're what?"

Ferb took a deep breath. "Then I'm going to be one very happy fellow."

Vanessa's eyes widened. "So that _is_ what you want? To start dating officially?"

Ferb nodded. "More than you could understand."

Vanessa nodded once more and began laughing softly. "That's very interesting…"

Ferb paled. "Interesting? What's interesting?"

Vanessa laughed some more. "It's just interesting that you feel so strongly about it." She cast her eyes downward. "Yeah. Maybe we could try dating. I'd be lying if I said I haven't been considering it." She looked back up at him and into his eyes. "I don't know if I'm just some crazy woman with a thing for younger guys, but I'm not really taking your age into account here. Of course, we may want to keep it on the down-low since you're...you know-"

"Seventeen," he whispered. "But I will be eighteen this month."

She grinned. "Perfect. Then it won't be as weird pretty soon. And to celebrate recently dating…" she went over to her stack of DVDs and pulled out another horror movie. "Want to watch another movie?"

Ferb literally could not believe the turn of events that were unfolding in front of him right now. Literally could not even imagine it. But there they were, the two of them deciding to try dating. But it all seemed so sudden… Had she really been considering this for a while? Was he in some twisted dream that he would soon wake up from by Perry smacking his tail on his face to rudely disturb the dream?

Whatever the reason, Ferb did not hesitate to agree to another movie and sat back down on the couch next to Vanessa, the person he was secretly dating as of that current moment in time. Wow.


End file.
